The 60 billion gap cannot be filled: Germany must go into a quasi-shutdown

The German federal government actually wanted to deposit unnecessary Corona loans – around 60 billion euros – into the national climate fund. The resources that are not needed should be used wisely. But the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ruled last week: it doesn’t work that way: the money for the climate fund must be found elsewhere.

So for Germany it is now: save, save, save. So urgent that Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (44) has imposed a quasi-spending freeze, a kind of shutdown, on all federal ministries. This means that the various ministries may only do this “in special individual cases” and upon request to the Federal Ministry of Finance. But there’s no guarantee it will work. “A particularly strict standard” will be applied to check whether the problem is necessary. Constitutional bodies such as the Federal President, the Bundestag, the Bundesrat and the Federal Constitutional Court are excluded.

The climate fund is one of the few projects of the German government coalition (SPD, Greens, FDP) that have been put forward together. It would be a bitter blow, especially for the Greens, if the funding of the fund remained in limbo; after all, it is their sincere project. The coalition agreement states how important climate protection was to the Greens when they formed the coalition. The Greens demand that all ministries act in a climate-friendly manner. Green Minister Robert Habeck (54) already knew how this would be financed in 2021 – with the climate fund.

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No. The cleanest, fundamental solution is a reform of the debt brake, economist Achim Truger told the German “Tagesschau”. “For example, you could arrange that after a crisis you only have to gradually return to the debt rule.” Truger also proposed to compensate for the lack of income by charging a temporary energy or climate solidarity contribution.

But: all these suggestions could be new explosives for the traffic light coalition. On the one hand, programs that are particularly important to the Greens are at stake. Moreover, views on the debt brake vary widely: Chancellor Scholz as well as Lindner and his FDP want to stick to it, while the Greens and the SPD as a party repeatedly call for regime reform.

That is the question that all of Germany is asking itself. In Germany, traffic-light-like government alliances have only broken up before the end of their terms twice in the past fifty years: in 1982 and 2005. Government alliances only end when those involved either expect a benefit or want to save themselves from an even worse situation. lot. However, this would not be an option for any of the three traffic light parties at the moment.

The SPD could escape into a new coalition, but the CDU has long made it clear that this scenario would end in premature federal elections. And the SPD would not be successful: suicide for fear of death. The situation is similar with the Greens. Finally, after sixteen years, they have finally returned to power thanks to the traffic lights; a break with the coalition would mean certain collapse. And the FDP? That can’t work either – for similar reasons. In plain English it means: The three quarrels must try to mend their differences.

The German government will make a decision on the budget for 2024 on Thursday. According to information from Spiegel, there could also be a postponement, but they do not officially want to comment on that. It is still conceivable to make a decision on the regular budget for 2024, Spiegel said. The current blocks affect the 2023 budget and the climate fund. At the same time, the SPD, Chancellor Scholz’s party, confirms that it wants to suspend the debt brakes to close the enormous gap in the climate fund.

However, this option seems unlikely, and finding a majority for the change is virtually impossible – no matter how divided the traffic lights are. An extraordinary expert meeting on this subject will take place on Tuesday, where further measures will be discussed.